The adventures of Nate and Charles carry on. My #podcast #story with my two characters carries onward helped by others. All in the search for answers that no one seems to worried about getting. Available on #YouTube and #spotify. #audiodrama #audiofiction #fiction https://www.youtube.com/@runningsentences1687

The #MastoPrompt for Tuesday 17 February 2026 is:

#gown

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

Iain M. Banks (1954–2013) was born #OTD, 16 Feb: a 🎂 🧵
1/13

“Iain Banks… is a novelist who has his own ‘double’, an author for whom the idea of a split writing persona is emphatically not out of place”

—“Reading Double, Writing Double: The Fiction of Iain (M) Banks” – a 2010 article on Banks’s genre-busting career

@bookstodon

https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2010/11/reading-double-writing-double-the-fiction-of-iain-m-banks/

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture

Alt...

A head and shoulders photo of Iain Banks. He has brown, curly, untidy hair, and a reddish beard beginning to whiten on his chin. He is wearing glasses and a red, white, and blue checked shirt. He's looking up at the camera, which is above head height; we only see grass behind him. He appears to be carrying a toy rocket: its yellow nose-cone pokes up into the bottom of the photograph.

@bookstodon

Iain’s debut novel THE WASP FACTORY was published 42 years ago today…

Available on BBC Sounds – Iain Banks discusses THE WASP FACTORY with James Naughtie & readers at the National Library of Scotland

🚨CONTAINS SPOILERS🚨 – read the book before listening!

2/13

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016w0nf

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture

@bookstodon

Also on BBC Sounds: Inside THE WASP FACTORY

Iain Banks’s 1984 debut THE WASP FACTORY was described in the media as “a work of unparalleled depravity” & also “a masterpiece” – both reviews ended up on the cover. Simon Pegg discusses his favourite novel

3/13

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w71d

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture

@bookstodon

“I love plot, I love stories. I hate these novels that just stop… I don't think it’s good enough. I want closure. I don't want any of this existentialist post-modern shite, pal. I want a story, with an ending”

—an in-depth profile of Iain Banks, from 1999

4/13

https://www.theguardian.com/books/1999/aug/07/fiction.iainbanks

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture

@bookstodon

“THE BRIDGE bends reality, breaks the rules of physics, invents technologies & plays around with impossible inventions”

—Sam Jordison explores the link between Iain Banks’s “mainstream” & science-fiction novels

5/13

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/23/iain-banks-the-bridge-link-mainstream-literature-science-fiction

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture

@bookstodon

HIPPY COMMIES WITH HYPER-WEAPONS

“I think space opera in general celebrates a certain manic wildness and vivacity of vision, a refusal to be constrained”

A Few Questions About the Culture – an interview with Iain M. Banks, on Strange Horizons

6/13

http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/a-few-questions-about-the-culture-an-interview-with-iain-banks/

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture

Alt...

Photo of Iain Banks standing in front of a display of his 2012 Culture novel THE HYDROGEN SONATA. His hair and beard are both grey. He is grinning as he extends one hand towards the display – and to a large banner that reads 25 YEARS OF CULTURE THE ONLY *BANKS* YOU CAN TRUST

@bookstodon

“As a humanist, atheist, and socialist, he preferred to place his trust in techno-scientific development, rather than his faith in gods, or his capital in the market”

Joseph S. Norman on the legacy & utopianism of Iain M. Banks’s #scifi Culture series

7/13

https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2023/11/better-to-create-your-own-on-the-legacy-and-utopianism-of-iain-m-bankss-culture-series/

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture #utopia

@bookstodon

“Banks… envisions the overcoming of scarcity as the signal achievement of the civilization made by the Minds, & yet he focuses time and again on objects of unfulfilled desire”

—Alan Jacobs on the Ambiguous Utopia of Iain M Banks, for The New Atlantis

8/13

https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-ambiguous-utopia-of-iain-m-banks

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture #utopia

@bookstodon

“Our strange wee country is as complex as any alien civilization, & getting it as right as Banks did in The Crow Road required every bit as much world-building skill as his Culture”

—Simon Stephenson travels THE CROW ROAD for Reactor Magazine

9/13

https://reactormag.com/the-difference-is-entirely-one-of-setting-iain-banks-the-crow-road/

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture

@bookstodon

Why has Iain Banks’s Culture series – “a world where your Bezoses & your Musks are not just irrelevant, but actively sought out & disempowered” – garnered a billionaire fanbase? Kurt Schiller examines ultra-rich misreadings & delusions for Blood Knife

10/13

https://bloodknife.com/culture-war-iain-m-banks-jeff-bezos/

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture #billionaires

@bookstodon

The New Scientist Book Club read the science-fiction masterpiece THE PLAYER OF GAMES by Iain M. Banks. In this video, Iain’s friend & fellow author Ken MacLeod discusses Iain’s schooldays, his literary influences, & his idea for a final Culture novel

11/13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7OW6A8XCgg

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture

@bookstodon

“Pay attention to the moments of contradiction & uncertainty threaded through character dialogue & self-reflection…Watch his tone. Watch his humour. For me, that’s where the sharpest lessons are”

—Dr Bethany Jacobs for the New Scientist

12/13

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2506129-why-sci-fi-novelist-iain-m-banks-was-an-astounding-world-builder/

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture

@bookstodon

“I mean, your society’s broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No let’s blame the people with no power & no money & these immigrants who don’t even have the vote, yeah it must be their fucking fault.”

—Iain Banks, the final interview

13/13

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/15/iain-banks-the-final-interview

#Scottish #literature #fiction #sciencefiction #IainBanks #IainMBanks #TheCulture

The #MastoPrompt for Sunday 15 February 2026 is:

#salacious

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

If anyone would like a bit of body horror with their ecofiction, the latest from The Rotting Leaf delivers.

"The Find", by K.M. Greyburn 👇
https://www.briefecology.com/the-rotting-leaf/the-find

#writing #fiction #horror #shortstory

Suck it linguists I'll make my own grammar rolls 😜😂

@linguistics @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop @writingcommunity @writingbooks

#LinguisticMemes #Meme #Memes #Linguistics
#Language #Words #Humor #Humour #Funny
#Reading #Readers #ReadersOfMastodon #ReadingCommunity
#Book #Books #Novel #Novels #Fiction #Bookstodon

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Post by keva Here's my first attempt at synonym rolls, with attached picture of cinnamon rolls. Reply by BrazilFlair Just like grammar used to make.

The #MastoPrompt for Saturday 14 February 2026 is:

#wendigo

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Friday 13 February 2026 is:

#fawn

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

You're a supervillain/evil overlord, what's the embarrassing/humiliating way you go out?

#fiction #books #tv #anime #manga #comics #fantasy #scifi #poll

Aargh. Missed this yesterday, apologies.

The #MastoPrompt for Wednesday 11 February 2026 is:

#reimburse

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction

Dealing with the madness of no one listening to them, Charles and Nate simply find themselves going along with things. Much to their detriment. Check out my #podcast #story available on #YouTube and #Spotify. #fiction #audiobook #audiodrama #storytelling https://open.spotify.com/episode/1FNrVeznyK20sjkCYZymP4?si=MK9i9jm-TJK0MUVjpsJ5Ig

You're a villain, what're your weaknesses?

#poll #fiction #fantasy #scifi #books #anime #manga

Part 4 of The Thirteen Faces of Ruth Tarver. #Substack #fiction

https://dcreed.substack.com/p/ruth-tarver-reality-in-rough-translation

Today in Labor History February 11, 1938: BBC Television produced the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R. Čapek coined the term "robot,” deriving it from the Czech word for forced labor by Serfs. R.U.R. is an archetype for many of the science fiction stories and films that followed, like Bladerunner, West World and Terminator, and others about robots, replicants and hosts that rebel against humans. However, “R.U.R.,” like Čapek’s 1936 novel “War with the Newts,” is also a satirical critique of totalitarianism, which was on the rise in Europe at the time he wrote the play.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #play #playwright #KarelCapek #robot #RUR #totalitarianism #fascism #antifascism #serf #slavery #sciencefiction #scifi #czech #bladerunner #books #fiction #playwright @bookstadon

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Male robots, in metal vests and helmets, breaking into the factory at the end of Act III. One has his arm raised to strike a human.By Unknown author - http://www.umich.edu/~engb415/literature/pontee/RUR/RURsmry.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8442825

The #MastoPrompt for Sunday 8 February 2026 is:

#surreptitious

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

Who are you fighting at the end?

#fiction #poll

Sorry, boss, but you're getting written out, how do you go?

#fiction #anime #books #fantasy #scifi #comics #comicbooks #manga #TV #television #videogames #poll

How is your backstory revealed?

#fiction #poll #anime #manga #comics #comicbooks #videogames #TV #television #movies #film

Good morning. 😴🥱☕

7 February 2026

I woke up groggy and disoriented, which isn’t unusual when I fall asleep in my chair. The TV was still on but silent, and Charlie was sitting in front of me, staring like he’d been waiting for me to rejoin the living. I rubbed my eyes, stood, and made my way through the house toward the bedroom, Charlie padding along behind me.

My wife was in front of the mirror doing something with her hair. “I fell asleep,” I said. She glanced over and smiled, but didn’t say a word. That alone was strange—she’s usually quick with a comment.

I headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. When I looked back through the doorway, Charlie was sitting exactly where I’d been standing, watching my wife. He was perfectly still except for that black border collie tail, curved up with the white tip held like a little flag.

The shower felt good—narrow jets of hot water working into my neck and shoulders—so I stayed longer than usual, letting the heat soak through me. When I finished, I pulled on a T‑shirt and gym shorts and headed back toward my chair.

Down the hall, through the kitchen, into the family room—and then I froze. Because there I was, still lying back in my recliner, wearing the old blue jeans and olive drab work shirt I’d had on all day.

I wasn’t shocked or scared. My first thought was simply, Well, will you look at that. Hadn’t my wife just seen me walk through the bedroom? Or had she only reacted to Charlie? Then another thought drifted in: Well, there it is. Apparently life doesn’t go on after all.

Of course, none of this happened. But it felt like the start of a pretty good ghost story.

“Life is a dream from which we all must wake.” — James Joyce

“The dead are never far from the living.” — African proverb

“Things are not what they seem, nor are they otherwise.” — Zen proverb

#photo #photography #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #morning #fiction #ghost #story #greategret #savanahriver

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Egret and the Ruins "The great egret stands like a pale sentinel against the worn geometry of an old utility dock, its white plumage almost luminous against the dark, weather‑beaten wood. The bird is perched high on a crossbeam, tall and composed, its long neck held in a gentle S‑curve as if it’s surveying the slow rhythm of the Savannah River below. The structure beneath it tells its own story—thick timbers softened by moss, metal brackets streaked with rust, and a vertical pipe rising behind the egret like the remnant of some forgotten machinery. Everything about the dock feels abandoned, a relic left to the river and the creeping green of the surrounding foliage. That contrast—industrial decay and the egret’s clean, living elegance—creates a quiet tension. The bird seems both out of place and perfectly at home, a bright, breathing note perched atop a fading man‑made frame. You can almost feel the humid air, hear the muted lap of water against pilings, and sense the stillness that settles when a wild creature decides a place is safe enough to pause." - Microsoft Copilot

The #MastoPrompt for Friday 6 February 2026 is:

#quiet

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

Information is sought by forces from Nate and Charles. It's a pity that they really don't have any so that they can solve this issue. Yet no one is willing to listen to them. Check out the latest part of my #story on #YouTube and #Spotify. #audiodrama #fiction #storytelling https://open.spotify.com/episode/34cZWdu67Mp8IF3sMmjvlQ?si=Ezan3dhSSFSDGmtY46KtsA

The #MastoPrompt for Thursday 5 February 2026 is:

#joust

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Wednesday 4 February 2026 is:

#profiler

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

#QuestionOfTheDay who is a character that ruined a work of fiction you were otherwise enjoying and why?

bonus points if you actually stopped watching/playing/reading etc because of this character, so not just like an annoying character you hate but you still kept going

#fiction #movies #film #TV #Television #anime #manga #musicals #comics #comicbooks #ttrpg #CCGs #books #videogames

This week for #StainedGlassWoman is a sample--this first *seven thousand* words from my novel, Nameless, out February 11!

Have a read, and if you enjoy it, preorders are up now, with the paperback and hardcover editions available on the 11th!

#Trans #MtF #FtM #Enby #Fiction #Novel

https://stainedglasswoman.substack.com/p/announcing-nameless

The #MastoPrompt for Monday 2 February 2026 is:

#harridan

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Sunday 1 February 2026 is:

#articulate

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

#QuestionOfTheDay what's a piece of fiction that really blew your mind/impacted/changed your perspective/taught you an important value as a child/teen where that impact/perspective/lesson isn't particularly unique or groundbreaking but it was your first encounter with it and it's meaningful to you?

everybody has to have their first encounter with a concept, no matter how obvious/tropey/overplayed etc, at some point in their life. So don't be ashamed if your answer is like "this episode of a cartoon show taught me not to hate ugly people" or something. This is a safe space for sharing. At least I will try my best to keep it as one.

#fiction #TV #television #movies #film #books #comics #comicbooks #anime #manga #videogames #TTRPG #CCGs #musicals #poetry #music

#PennedPossibilities 918 — How would your antagonist react to being mocked or made fun of?

This is more interesting than the MC question of the same sort.

• Pigeon the Pilfer gets into exactly this situation in the story with a woman, a newly hired mob enforcer, whom he feels has slighted him. Her disdain is clear, but indirect, and only prompted by his "unprofessional" behavior. Besides, she's smaller than him! You can guess what happens when he decides to teach her a lesson. One of the better unexpected scenes in the novel.
• Boss Mead wouldn't need to do a thing other than raising an eyebrow or, for that matter, know what happened afterwards. The syndicate he runs is decentralized and confederated, but because he's the goose that lays the golden egg, everyone keeps him happy. Were he ever to see that person again, they'd be properly deferential.
• Rainy Days, the Director of Home, gets mocked indirectly in another story (other than the WIP) by a dragon ambassador. She invades that soon-to-be-formerly autonomous region. This, however, was an excuse for a war she was waiting for. Generally, nobody would mock her, and nobody will in the current WIP. But since she's technologically immortal, she has been (essentially) killed a few times, imprisoned and tortured, and all manner of hurt over her long years. Somebody calling her names is trifling at best. She simply takes notes.

PS: @floofpaldi: Another gold mine question.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory

The #MastoPrompt for Friday 30 January 2026 is:

#lung

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Thursday 29 January 2026 is:

#willpower

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Tuesday 27 January 2026 is:

#dainty

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Wednesday 28 January 2026 is:

#coyote

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

#QuestionOfTheDay what's an experience with a piece of media or work that felt interminably long. Not necessarily something that is long but that felt exceeding long or tedious, like it would never end and/or just kept going going and going.

#anime #manga #videogames #fiction #books #theater #musicals #music #comics #comicbooks #Boardgames #ttrpg #CCGs #TV #Television #movies #film #poetry #writing #gaming

#QuestionOfTheDay what's a "failed"/cancelled/"1 and done" piece of original fiction (so a 1 season original anime counts but a manga that didn't get fully adapted and only had 1 season does not) that had a really interesting concept that you would like to have seen get more of a chance to find its footing?

#fiction #TV #television #comics #comicbooks #anime #manga #film #movies #TTRPG #CCGs #videogames #books

@futurebird @lucydev

Agreed.

As a #blind guy who has had #poetry and #fiction published, and #songs licensed, I can affirmatively state that having a #disability doesn't mean someone can't create #art.

And suggesting that #AI is The One True Way #disabled folks can participate in society demonstrates a lack of #criticalThinking #skills.

But what can we expect from someone who gets their talking points from a #chatbot?

Things go from bad to worse for Charles and Nate discovering new horrible things while stuck on the island. And nothing seems to want to go right for them in my newest #podcast #story episode. On #YouTube or #spotify on Thursday. #audiodrama #storytelling #fiction https://www.youtube.com/@runningsentences1687

The #MastoPrompt for Monday 26 January 2026 is:

#quaint

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Sunday 25 January 2026 is:

#hinder

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

“Oh, it’s you,” said he. “What are you bothering for? All the cobras are dead. And if they weren’t, I’m here.”

Rikki-Tikki had a right to be proud of himself. But he did not grow too proud, and he kept that garden as a mongoose should keep it, with tooth and jump and spring and bite, till never a cobra dared show its head inside the walls.

- Rudyard Kipling, "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"

#BookWormSat #BookChatWeekly #Book #Literature #Fiction #RudyardKipling #JungleBook #Animal #Mongoose

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A mongoose attacking a cobra. An illustration from "Hunting and Trapping Stories: a Book for Boys" by J. P. Hyde Price.

The #MastoPrompt for Saturday 24 January 2026 is:

#cream

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

"Who art thou?" said the Giant. A strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child.

The child smiled at the Giant. "You let me play once in your garden; today you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise."

- Oscar Wilde, "The Selfish Giant"
🎨 Ritva Voutila

#BookWormSat #FairyTale #Folklore #Book #Literature #Fiction #Fantasy #OscarWilde #Giant

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The Selfish Giant gazes up at his tree covered in blossoms. Illustration by Ritva Voutila.

The #MastoPrompt for Friday 23 January 2026 is:

#barren

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Thursday 22 January 2026 is:

#indignant

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

#QuestionOfTheDay assuming you are forced to work with/for a villain, what's a fictional villain you'd most want to work with/for and a fictional villain you'd least like to work with/for?

(Just to make the answers more varied for the millennials, you can't say Hank Scorpio)

#fiction #books #movies #film #videogames #TTRPG #CCGs #musicals #comics #comicbooks #anime #manga #TV #television

Being led around by the army isn't exactly what Nate and Charles expected to happen. Yet here they are in my #podcast #story allowing that, because its either that or to try and run away. Check it out Thursday on #YouTube or #spotify. #audiodrama #fiction #audiobook https://open.spotify.com/show/6HJAHkuM81Nv5YcVsli2FM?si=WUvXPhvYSqCbcHL8j9Uc3Q

The #MastoPrompt for Tuesday 20 January 2026 is:

#frame

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Sunday 18 January 2026 is:

#numb

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Monday 19 January 2026 is:

#jink

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

#WordWeavers 2026.01.19 — Who is the most moral character in your story?

...morals usually connotes an element of subjective preference, while ethics tends to suggest aspects of universal fairness and the question of whether or not an action is responsible...

—Merriam Webster

Because in most cultures, the subjective preference of what is or isn't moral is predicated on scripture or other religious doctrine, all the characters in my current WIP are by definition either immoral and amoral.

However, most are ethical and principled. Bolt, my MC, has a sense of what is right or wrong. She treats people fairly and kindly, and works to prevent them being hurt as best as her restricted freedom allows her to; she's even risked her safety to help those she dislikes. Regardless, she's serially immoral by the traditional standards ascribed to by the majority of Earth's population. Doubly so because she's female. Women are killed for her behavior in our world even today, or at very least shamed, shunned, and imprisoned.

I suggest considering the semantics of using the words moral and ethical very carefully.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory

Going to be 10 minutes late for #monsterdon because I want to finish listening to some of my favorite #sci #fiction #stories 😅

https://youtu.be/NzNF6ys7o8E

The #MastoPrompt for Saturday 17 January 2026 is:

#process

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

So, it's either keep buying more books or become a librarian? 🤔
It's a rare thing indeed to have life present us with two excellent choices 😊

@libraries@literature.cafe @Libraries@fedigroups.social @library @books @bookstodon @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop @joinin

#Library #LibraryMemes #Meme #Memes #Libraries #Librarians #Humor #Humour #Funny
#ReadingMemes #Memes #ReadAllTheBooks
#Reading #Readers #ReadersOfMastodon #ReadingCommunity
#Book #Books #Novel #Novels #Fiction
#Bookwyrm #Bookworm #Bookstodon #BookLove #FantasyBooks

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Post by Tara Wine-Queen It's not that I *can't* read all of the books I already have, it's that once a reader finishes all the books in their possession, they transcend into their final form and I'm just not ready to become a librarian yet.

#QuestionOfTheDay what's a piece of critically acclaimed or popular work that you just don't "get". It can be something you don't understand, get the point of, get why it resonates with people, get the artistry of, get the genius of, etc

This can include things that aren't necessarily broadly popular but are "cult classics" as well.

Keep in mind this question isn't meant for things you understand but simply don't like. It has to be something you just don't "get it".

#fiction #books #poetry #videogames #comics #comicbooks #TV #television #music #Musicals #movies #film #TTRPG #CCGs #anime #manga #art

More madness follows Charles and Nate in my #podcast story. They wake up with the idea of trying to get off of this island, but things quickly spiral out of control for them. Check it out on #YouTube or #Spotify. #audiodrama #audiobook #storytelling #fiction #story https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Bno3Np5TnEq69qim1zGhh?si=bj0UrnDTQPat5uYBE252cw

My #story One Dead Man continues on my #podcast this Thursday. Things are crazy for Charles and Nate though they manage to get some rest. It doesn't last long as they're awoken to more craziness. Available on #YouTube and #Spotify. #audiodrama #fiction #storytelling #audiobook #audiofiction https://www.youtube.com/@runningsentences1687

Fiction writers, I need advice
#fiction #writing #podcasts
https://youtu.be/-nRwPkYCFUg

I have now fully finished "The Broken Earth Trilogy" by N. K. Jemisin, it is the first trilogy that really got me in the feels. I so want to know what happens next, and I hope that there is a follow up trilogy as I feel that the next era will not be straightforward in this world!

I almost found myself considering some fanfiction writing to further explore some of the relationships, I have never felt that with written fiction before. Very much looking forward to what is next on the horizon for Jemisin.

#Bookstodon #Fiction #NKJemisin

The #MastoPrompt for Monday 12 January 2026 is:

#education

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

#PennedPossibilities 898 — Does your MC prefer to spend time alone, in a small group, or in a larger group?

Bolt spends most of her time these days alone, but since she's involuntarily working for the mob it is a kind of self-defense. She prefers company, preferably male. Small groups are best. When she was in high school, she was the top aerial athlete and she trained hard—though for obvious reasons not as physically strong as the guys she hung out with. She horsed around with them a lot and got into a plenty of trouble, but was their leader, often accused by other girls of keeping too many guys on a string. She took pride in that accomplishment.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory

The #MastoPrompt for Sunday 11 January 2026 is:

#judge

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Saturday 10 January 2026 is:

#warmonger

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

1/

New connections in the new year: time for a re-introduction to "A New Faith" tinjar.ghost.io/a-new-faith

#bookstodon #books #climatefiction #hopepunk #solarpunk #mystery #thriller #detective #scifi #clifi #fiction #novel #story #speculativefiction #climatechange #climate #migration

🧵

3/

As Alia races against time to save the city, she discovers a deadly secret which turns her life upside down. Will she solve the two murders? Will the city survive?

https://tinjar.ghost.io/anf/download-a-new-faith/

#bookstodon #books #climatefiction #hopepunk #solarpunk #mystery #thriller #detective #scifi #clifi #fiction #novel #story #speculativefiction #climatechange #climate #migration

Today in Labor History January 9, 1890: Karel Capek was born in Bohemia, Austria-Hungry (now Czech Republic). He was an internationally renowned Czech novelist, short-story writer, playwright and essayist. Two of his best-known works include “R.U.R” (Rossum’s Universal Robots), which first introduced the word “robot,” to the English language. He derived the word “Robot” from the Czech word for forced labor by Serfs. The play is an archetype for many of the science fiction stories and films that followed, like Bladerunner, West World and Terminator, and others about robots, replicants and hosts that rebel against humans. However, “R.U.R.,” like Čapek’s 1936 novel “War with the Newts,” is also a satirical critique of totalitarianism, which was already on the rise in Europe at the time he wrote the play.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #fascism #totalitarianism #czech #KarelCapek #novel #play #books #fiction #robot #writer #author @bookstadon

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Book cover of Capek's "War with the Newts." Image of a menacing giant newt standing on its hind legs.

I do like both, and I've never understood why this is an issue, is it not the content of the book that matters? Not how that content is delivered? 🤔😁

@reading @bookstodon @books @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop @joinin

#ReadingMemes #Memes #ReadAllTheBooks #Humor #Humour
#Reading #Readers #ReadersOfMastodon #ReadingCommunity
#Book #Books #Novel #Novels #Fiction
#Bookwyrm #Bookworm #Bookstodon #BookLove #FantasyBooks

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Tom and Jerry meme, Tom is having a sword fight with the dog, and Jerry is watching. Captions: Dog: ebook readers Tom: Physical readers Jerry: Me liking both

The #MastoPrompt for Wednesday 7 January 2026 is:

#present

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Tuesday 6 January 2026 is:

#length

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Monday 5 January 2026 is:

#frown

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

Could be pictures me reading as a kid in the big chairs at my grandparents house
Which is your favourite? I can't decide between 4 and 11😊

@reading @bookstodon @books @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop @joinin

#ReadingMemes #Memes #ReadAllTheBooks #Humor #Humour
#Reading #Readers #ReadersOfMastodon #ReadingCommunity
#Book #Books #Novel #Novels #Fiction
#Bookwyrm #Bookworm #Bookstodon #BookLove

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A comic showing a person in a big chair and using it for twelve diffrent readin positions.

The Fall, and such... - JZ Murdock
Posting a quick psychological horror piece of mine, “The Fall” (from Anthology of Evil, 2012).
#fiction #horror #darkFiction
https://jzmurdock.substack.com/p/the-fall-and-such

I wouldn't say I have a reading list but I haven't read this much in years.

I started "Witch King" by Martha Wells in mid-December, which I enjoyed immensely (waiting now for the second installment). Once that was complete, I then re-read "Fifth-Season" by N.K. Jemisin, and have now finished "The Obelisk Gate" which is the second installment of "The Broken Earth", also by Jemisin. I think I have the third, and looking forward to starting that next.

At this point I'd say I'm hooked again, and darn it, add in that the Luanti building bug is still rolling, I'm struggling to convince myself to do my other jobs at the weekend. I did suggest last year that maybe I ought to retire from bookkeeping for a yacht club in the next few year, and the response was not positive lol

#Bookstodon #Fiction #Luanti

My new #podcast story is here. Two friends take a little stop off vacation on an island away from work. But that takes a turn when they discovery something... available on #YouTube and #Spotify. #audiodrama #fiction #story #storytelling #audiobook #audiostory https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Tn1t8nNAqSBGJh5McxXTI?si=Mc0KpbCSTrCBX30Atgt0bQ

Peter knew that there was not a moment to lose.

“Come!” he cried imperiously, and soared out at once into the night, followed by John and Michael and Wendy.

Mr. and Mrs. Darling and Nana rushed into the nursery too late. The birds were flown.

- J. M. Barrie, "Peter Pan"
🎨 Trina Schart Hyman

#BookologyThursday #Book #Literature #Fiction #Fantasy #JMBarrie #PeterPan

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Peter Pan teaches the children how to fly. An illustration for J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" by Trina Schart Hyman.

"In his newest #novel, “Queen Esther,” #Irving gives us a #Jewish #heroine as colorful, high-minded and enjoyable as any of his protagonists. Esther loses her father to illness on the ship from Austria and her mother to an #antisemitic hate crime in #Portland, #Maine. She makes it to an orphanage many #JohnIrving lovers know, the one run by Dr. Wilbur Larch of “The Cider House Rules.” As a teen, Esther is adopted by the literature-loving and fiercely secular Winslows of Penacook, #Massachusetts, to help raise the youngest of their four daughters, Honor.

This #book has all the elements of Irving’s #fiction: a deep concern with #history shared in a way that doesn’t feel didactic, a disdain for #religion and #war, rich representations of #queer #characters."

https://www.kveller.com/in-queen-esther-john-irving-gives-us-a-powerful-jewish-heroine/

The #MastoPrompt for Monday 29 December 2025 is:

#reminisce

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart. I read this book and then encouraged both my littles to read it. It’s beautiful and funny and a great story of grief and love.
#bookstodon #books #fiction

The space we’re in by Katya Balen (middle reader, hard cover). Read this book with my littlest. It was devastating but beautiful. I loved how it invited the reader along for the growth of the young protagonist.
#bookstodon #books #fiction

Saffiyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan (historical fiction, audio). This is a young readers book but I learned a lot. It was a recommendation from someone on mastodon and it is excellent.
#bookstodon #books #fiction

The Story of Us by Catherine Hernandez (audio). This book covers a lot of ground as it follows the life of a Filipino worker in Hong Kong and Canada. A good book for broadening perspectives.
#bookstodon #books #fiction

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (audio). I had to stop this one partway because I had to return it to the library, which was so sad, but thankfully I had it back a month later. I find his writing and weaving of stories masterful.
#bookstodon #books #fiction

Looking For Jane by Heather Marshall (audio). I read quite a number of books that included storylines of young women sent to homes for pregnant unwed girls in the 60s-70s. This one was particularly good.
#bookstodon #books #fiction

The Postcard by Anne Berest. Difficult but wonderful historical fiction.
#bookstodon #books #fiction

A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza (fiction, audio). Really compelling read. I randomly ended up listening to this in parallel with reading the hard copy of There Is No Place For Us, which was an interesting pairing.
#bookstodon #books #fiction

First up for fiction: The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune (fiction, audio). I absolutely loved this book. The narration is also fabulous. This book made me feel so hopeful that I immediately bought the book when I finished reading it just to try to thank the author. Somewhere Beyond the Sea (sequel) is also wonderful.
#bookstodon #books #fiction

The #MastoPrompt for Sunday 28 December 2025 is:

#leftovers

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

"He made one more feeble effort to resist. Then, realizing even while he struggled that this soft weight about his heart was sweeter than anything life could ever bring, he let his muscles relax, and sank back into the soft oblivion of the covering snow. Her wintry kisses bore him into sleep."
- Algernon Blackwood, "The Glamour of the Snow"

#BookWormSat #Book #Literature #Fiction #WeirdFiction #Horror #Fantasy #AlgernonBlackwood

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Photo of snow-covered mountains

The #MastoPrompt for Saturday 27 December 2025 is:

#understanding

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing #SmallPoems #Poetry #Fiction #MicroFiction #SmallStories

"In the morning he arose, and when he went forth, behold a shower of snow had fallen the night before, and a hawk had killed a wild fowl in front of the cell. And the noise of the horse scared the hawk away, and a raven alighted upon the bird. And Peredur stood, and compared the blackness of the raven and the whiteness of the snow and the redness of the blood to the hair of the lady that best he loved, which was blacker than jet, and to her skin, which was whiter than the snow, and to the two red spots upon her cheeks, which were redder than the blood upon the snow appeared to be."
- "Peredur, Son of Efrawg"

#BookWormSat #Mythology #Folklore #Book #Literature #Fiction #Mabinogion #KingArthur #Arthuriana #Peredur

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Photo of a raven in the snow

Finished @pluralistic Picks And Shovels.

Best book I’ve read all year. Thanks for writing it!

Great plot. Interesting, human characters. Lots of technical goodies. Believable emotional and ethical dilemmas treated with compassion and passion.

Felt very familiar, yet I didn’t see all the plot twists coming.

#CoryDoctorow
#PicksAndShovels
#fiction
#bookstodon

"Only to a magician is the world forever fluid, infinitely mutable and eternally new. Only he knows the secret of change, only he knows truly that all things are crouched in eagerness to become something else, and it is from this universal tension that he draws his power."
- Peter S. Beagle, "The Last Unicorn"
🎨 Aubrey Beardsley

#BookologyThursday #Mythology #Folklore #Book #Fiction #Literature #Fantasy #PeterSBeagle #LastUnicorn

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Nimue watches Merlin enter a caver. Illustration by Aubrey Beardsley.

"It tingled with truth and it divided truth from error with a blade like ice; but all that was left had never felt so much alive. It was as if all joy were a jewel in the heart of an iceberg. The priest hardly understood his own mood as he advanced deeper and deeper into the green gloaming, drinking deeper and deeper draughts of that virginal vivacity of the air. Some forgotten muddle and morbidity seemed to be left behind, or wiped out as the snow had painted out the footprints of the man of blood. As he shuffled homewards through the snow, he muttered to himself: 'And yet he is right enough about there being a white magic, if he only knows where to look for it.'"
- G. K. Chesterton, "The Dagger with Wings"

#BookologyThursday #BookChatWeekly #Book #Literature #Fiction #Mystery #GKChesterton #Chesterton

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Photo of snow-covered trees

All I want for Christmas is reviews 😜
A nice review of Part Two of my "Fantasy/Attempted comedy" story The Last Philosopher that I'm currently posting online on Wattpad, Inkitt, and RoyalRoad 😁

@books @reading l @writers @keepwriting @writingbooks @worldbuilding

#AmWriting #WIPWednesday
#Reading #Readers
#Fiction #Fantasy #Comedy #SFF
#Author #Authors #IndieAuthor #IndieBooks
#Bookstodon #Mastobooks #BooksofMastodon #FantasyBooks
#Review #Bookreview
#BookRecommendation

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By crig Dec 16, 2025 Challenging and compelling "If you are looking for something different from the usual inkitt offerings, try this.Iif you are looking for something with a very original storyline, indeed, quite unlike anything else you read, try this. As it is written in a very readable style, what are you waiting for? Give it a go. Colin Rigby" Overall rating: 5/5 Plot: 5/5 Writing style: 4/5 Grammar and Puntuation: 5/5

A short #story for this week's #podcast episode. A Christmas tale on Christmas about a lost cat and the hopes that it will return home. Check it out on #YouTube or #Spotify if you like #fiction. #audiodrama #stories #storytelling #audiobook #audiofiction #audio https://www.youtube.com/@runningsentences1687